At least it did not rain yesterday, but it was an unfriendly day so I decided to stay at home. Accoding to my online weather forecast today will be a sunny day with no rain which I do not mind, as today is a trip to town and a visit to the store in my plans.
And yesterday was a day for collecting the apples from my tree. Some had already fallen off the tree, but were not so edible, being attacked by various insects and turning brown and soft on the ground, I decided yesterday it was now or never so organised No. 1 son to help me. Mr. Swiss also volunteered but again his work was more of a logistic nature, organising. I must say he did wash a few apples, but so did I and son. Eventiually we were finished and I am sure it was more than 100 apples that we gathered. It looks like we will now have a Winter partially filled with Swiss apple style flans.
The garden is now almost organised. My orchids are now enjoying a warmer life inside and I also cleared away my smaller table where they lived during the Winter. I now just have to wait for a some plants to decide to retire. My gardener's next visit will be in March. I will be clearing the remains of the hostas when they begin to shrivel and cut down a few plants that are no longer producing anything worthwhile.
also decided to bake a fruit cake. I think the last fruit cake I baked was at least ten years ago, but life changes and so do moods. At the moment I am having fun discovering my cooking again. Life is not only blogging and computers.
My complete attitude towards food and its organisation has changed. I am really no longer as mobile as I was and although I still do my own shopping, I now buy for the future that I will not be so isolated and stand before empty cupboards or fridge. If there is a special offer on meat, I like to buy some and freeze it for a later date. I am a member of my supermarket online shop and their new scheme no longer delivers from a central place, but from one of the larger supermarkets in my area which functions quite well. I have no delivery charges to settle, which is also quite good. The only thing I do not buy so much online is fresh veg and meat, but I do that when I am in town. The quality is quite good and they have a butchers department where I can pick and choose the meat I want and even have it sealed for freezing, although I have my own sealing machine at home when necessary if I do happen to buy prepacked.
Life changes constantly and you have to adapt to it. Shopping routine from 10 years ago has changed considerably and I notice in towns that it is only the large stores that now survive and they also are adapting to modern ways. I realised how thoughtless people can be when covid broke out. There was panic buying for no real reason and various shelves were emptied in the store, although we were assured by our suppliers that there was plenty of food for everyone. Now that symptom has disappeared, but we must learn from our mistakes. I now have a good store of rations in my laundry room which also contains a deep freezing chest and really no need to panic. I am almost ashamed to say I have 60 rolls of toilet paper in reserve - you never know.
Yesterday was a voting week-end yet again in Switzerland. I cast my vote by post, as did Mr. Swiss and No. 1 son. There were a few Swiss based subjects. One was whether we should buy new aircraft for our air force. It was one of the subjects where Mr. Swiss and I had different opinions. Not wanting to go into details but it was accepted by less than 9,000 votes which was very narrow. Afterwards there was an immediate new plan by those that did not want the money to be spent on new aircraft for a new vote. We take our direct democracy seriously.
I am now off to begin the week in my little village in Switzerland. Have a good one, may the rain go away and wrap up warm. The days of t-shirts and sunburn on the skin are over. Get your gloves and woolly has ready, you will soon be needing them.
So nicr